Thursday, June 21, 2012

Book Club - The Good Father

Book Club - The Good Father



Summary:

As the Chief of Rheumatology at Columbia Presbyterian, Dr. Paul Allen's specialty is diagnosing patients with conflicting symptoms, patients other doctors have given up on. He lives a contented life in Westport with his second wife and their twin sons—hard won after a failed marriage earlier in his career that produced a son named Daniel. In the harrowing opening scene of this provocative and affecting novel, Dr. Allen is home with his family when a televised news report announces that the Democratic candidate for president has been shot at a rally, and Daniel is caught on video as the assassin.

Daniel Allen has always been a good kid—a decent student, popular—but, as a child of divorce, used to shuttling back and forth between parents, he is also something of a drifter. Which may be why, at the age of nineteen, he quietly drops out of Vassar and begins an aimless journey across the United States, during which he sheds his former skin and eventually even changes his name to Carter Allen Cash.

Review:

This was not a light, summer read. One word that was used in the Reviews on the back page of this book was "haunting". I completely agree, the relationships of the characters stuck with you. It was an easy to read book though, it kept my attention the whole time. There were also lots of historical assassinations woven into the story, which I found very interesting. It was very well written and wove in and out of perspectives. I would recommend it, but not for a beach book. More of a curl up on the couch and read big chunks of it.

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2 comments:

Abbey said...

Daang. Sounds intense! I'm putting it on my list.

Katrin said...

Sounds great! I will check it out!